Night Club – “Need You Tonight” (audio) (Premiere)

Last year, the LA-based dark synthpop duo Night Club—comprised of Emily Kavanaugh and former Metalocalpyse director Mark Brooks—released Love Casualty, a minor but undeniably catchy EP. Hooks on tunes like “Give Yourself Up” are hard to shake off; they, as I put it in my review of the EP, are “are designed to invade brains and stay inside for a long time.”

The same goes for “Need You Tonight”, a cover of the new wave/funk giants INXS. In between and amidst the bouncy verses, a heavy buzzsaw synth cuts in and out, adding a strong amount of propulsion to this already propulsive tune. Kavanaugh’s vocals, like the synths, rise and fall; for a few lines she will sing sweetly, only then to raise her voice to commanding heights. Oscillating between the syrupy aspects of bubblegum pop and dark synth music is a tactic that Night Club relies on often, but with results this enticing, one would be foolish to complain.

Night Club explains its rationale for choosing this cover: “We chose ‘Need You Tonight’ to cover for a few reasons. There’s a dark, desperate, and sexy loneliness to the song (and INXS/Michael Hutchence for that matter) that we personally relate to. Also, musically, our new songs are moving towards a funkier, darker feel. We realized that the song was a natural fit for our band, even though the original is mainly guitar-based. We thought it’d be cool to hear the song with only synths and a female singer.”

Night Club is set to release a new EP, Black Leather Heart, in September.